Researchers from the United Kingdom have identified genetic differences that affect the likelihood of whether a person will smoke and the predisposition of heavy smokers and non-smokers to poor lung health

Smoking may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia, an analysis by a team from King’s College, London has found.

An association between cigarettes and psychotic symptoms has been reported before, but it has been generally assumed that this arises because people with the symptoms take up smoking as a way to relieve distress, counteract the symptoms, or manage the side effects of drugs used to treat them.

Smokers are more likely to reduce their smoking and try to quit as the proportion of people who smoke in a population decreases, an international study has found, suggesting that current smoking reduction strategies are working and questioning claims that electronic (e) cigarettes provide a harm reduction strategy for smokers who are unable to quit.

The tobacco industry should be forced to pay towards smoking cessation efforts in England as part of a new national tobacco control strategy, a multi-agency report has claimed.

Experts have called for a national annual levy on tobacco companies, fresh targets such as a drop in smoking rates to 5% by 2035, a new five year government tobacco strategy for England, and an increase to the tax escalator on tobacco products to 5% above the level of inflation.

Banning smoking in public places has cut hospital admissions for childhood respiratory infections in England by 11 000 a year, new research has estimated.

Researchers from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands said that evidence has shown that smoke-free public environments will benefit children’s health but that the exact effect on respiratory tract infections is unclear.

There are not enough data on the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes to determine whether the devices can help smokers quit, the US Preventive Services Task Force has concluded.1

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The Task Force, which makes recommendations on the effectiveness of preventive healthcare services such as screening, counselling, and use of drugs, issued its draft evaluation of tobacco smoking cessation in adults and pregnant women on 5 May.

Pharmacy-based screening for cardiovascular risk
A systematic review suggests that pharmacy-based screening for cardiovascular risk factors may be possible. However, many people do not act on the advice to visit their GP, and the effect of screening on new diagnoses has not been robustly shown.

Haemoglobin thresholds for blood transfusion
Two meta-analyses report that restricting transfusion of red blood cells to people with a haemoglobin level of either less than 7.0 g/dl or 6.4 g/dl to 9.7 g/dl reduces mortality and serious infection, but does not significantly affect the overall risk of infection.

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Elearning: If you are looking for a less physically demanding alternative to gym membership in January, try our e-learning courses for practice managers looking to build a healthier, more robust business to meet the challenges of the new year. There is a free course on CQC compliance, plus several courses on finance, employment and HR issues and primary care medical contracts.

National continence survey
The all party parliamentary group (APPG) for continence care is pushing to make integrated services more widely available to all age groups, and also to help break the taboo which prevents individuals seeking and receiving medical attention. Read more »

Lessons learned from the hospital pathways programme The hospital pathways programme aims to improve both processes of care and interactions between staff and patients through a collaborative programme involving five acute trusts, the King’s Fund and the Health Foundation to apply techniques, not widely used in the NHS. Read more »

Advance care planning toolkit A team at the National End of Life Care Programme (NEoLCP) has developed an advance care planning toolkit to help care providers approach the planning process with confidence and knowledge. Read more »

Smoking habits of health care professionals in a district general hospital (DGH) two years after smoking ban

Introduction A law was introduced in England and Wales on 1st July 2007 to ban smoking in enclosed public places. We conducted a survey 6 months after this ban to identify how it affected the smoking habits of health care workers in a DGH. It showed that 29% of ex-smokers had stopped following the ban and 49% of current smokers had cut down the number of cigarettes 1. We repeated the survey two years later to assess if the initial improvement has been maintained.

Rationale: To assess the continuous impact of national smoking ban on smoking habits of health care workers.

Methods: Similar to the previous survey, an anonymous questionnaire was distributed to members of staff at Macclesfield DGH. Data was collected over one month period. Parameters collected included: age, sex, occupation, smoking status and action following ban.

Results: Three hundred questionnaires were distributed, 195 completed giving a response rate of 65%. The mean (SD) age was 35(11) years, females 67%. The distribution of the respondents were as follows: nursing staff 44%, 23% doctors, 11% administrative staff, 8% professions allied to medicine, 14% supportive services staff. 54% of respondents were non-smokers, 22% ex-smokers and 24% current smokers. In the ex smokers group, 17/44 (39%) stopped smoking since the introduction of the ban. 71% of those who had stopped said that the smoking ban had influenced their decision. The most popular methods of smoking cessation were will power and nicotine replacement therapy. In the smokers group, 25/46 (54%) health care workers were smoking less following the ban.

Results were similar to those from 2007 and as in previous survey there was no statistical significance in age, gender, or occupation in those who stopped smoking. There was no difference in average cigarette consumption of both groups which was 13 cigarettes /day.

Conclusion: Our results show that smoking ban has influenced health care workers to change their smoking habit and that this change has been maintained over two year period. The smoking ban has the potential to leave lasting impact on smoking behaviour which will help in reducing the burden of smoking-related lung diseases.

A major push forward in the implementation of a screening programme for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), which will save the lives of thousands of older men, has been launched by health secretary Andrew Lansley.

A survey by the Medical Technology Group to explore the provision of and access to uterine fibroid embolisation (UFE) treatment for fibroids, found significant variation between PCTs and acute trusts in the numbers of women undergoing UFE, and a lack of patient involvment in commissioning fibroid treatments.

Many news sources have reported that a “major review” of the NHS breast screening programme is to take place. BBC News said “the evidence for breast cancer screening in the UK is being reviewed amid controversy about the measure’s effectiveness”.